North Macedonia Seeks Consultants for Local Road Asset Management System Implementation

Request for Expressions of Interest Consulting Services Implementing Agency: Ministry of Transport Country: Republic of North Macedonia Project: Local Roads Connectivity Project - P170267 Assignment Title: Implementation of Local Road Asset Management System (LRAMS) in North Macedonia Loan No.: 9034-MK and 9210-MK REoI Reference No.: LRCP-9034-9210-MK-CQS-RFP-A.2.2.6 Estimated cost: EUR 300K Issued on: May 05, 202 5 The Republic of North Macedonia has received a financing from the World Bank - International Bank for Reconstruction and Development in the form of a loan toward the cost of the Local Roads Connectivity Project and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services. The road network in North Macedonia comprises about 14,000 km of roads, which includes about 5,000 km of primary roads and 9,000 km of local roads. Governance of the local road network is fully decentralized to municipalities, most of which have limited capacity to manage and preserve road assets. Under the Local Road Connectivity Project, a Tehnical Assistance for Developing of System for Local Roads Management was implemented. The objective of this assignment is to provide technical assistance and capacity-building activities that will build central and local government capacities to manage local roads and streets by introducing a sound planning and governance frameworks and improved contracting approaches. One of the tasks was related to Asset management – Develop simple road assets management system road inventory, and Methodology for sustainable municipal sub-projects planning with prioritization, preparation of the road asset management manuals, support to the road assets working group and training to the municipal staff. The World Bank supported rehabilitation of national and regional roads and introduction of a Road Asset Management System (RAMS) for primary state roads, through the recently closed National and Regional Roads Rehabilitation Project (NRRRP-P148023). The RAMS enables the Government to develop five-year rolling programs for road preservation works to address sustainability of the project investments. This project aims to address the experienced challenges and focus on the foundational activities of for establishing the Linear Referencing and Local Roads Asset Management System (LRAMS). The scope includes the implementation of the LRAMS system, the establishment of a Road Reference System with the definition of roads, road sections, and nodes, along with their graphical (GIS) presentation; and the development of a simple (Excel or similar) based asset management system that enables data-driven decision making. Additionally, it involves the transformation and import of available road inventory and condition data to create an initial Road Data Bank. The applicable Laws of the Republic of North Macedonia and the WB policies shall be in force for this and all other contracts under the Project. Accordingly, within provision of the Services in question, besides the specifications provided in the works contracts, the Consultant shall use national laws, rulebooks, and standards, as well as the best experiences from the worldwide practices. Knowledge of national legislation, technical regulations and standards represents a precondition for successful implementation of the Services. Consultant is separately obliged to use the legislation of the Republic of North Macedonia in respect to safety and protection at work. The Services are expected to start in July 2025 and must be completed by July 2026. The Terms of References in the English language may be obtained by interested eligible consulting firms (“Consultants”) from the website of the national electronic system for procurement: “ЕСЈН-Заеми/Донации/Грантови-Огласи од меѓународни институции” (https://www.e-nabavki.gov.mk) and from the website of the Ministry of Transport: http://mtc.gov.mk/javniOglasi. The Ministry of Transport now invites eligible consulting firms (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. The qualification criteria are: The Consultant shall be a firm or a group of firms with the following qualifications,

• Proven general experience in the implementation of RAMS systems and/or analysis on Road asset inventory management systems within the past ten (10) years;
• Proven specific experience in assignment related to establishing of Road databases and GIS/mapping systems in the field of road management – at least one (1) reference successfully completed within the last (5) years;

The credibility of the aforementioned experience will be presented in a list of project references in the last 10 (ten) years and at least one (1) reference successfully completed in the past (5) years for specific experience with a description of the services provided (including information on the contract value, contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration, budget for the award, percentage performed by the consultant in case of joint ventures or subcontracts and certificates for the main activities of the party) and contracts. Note to Consultant: To facilitate the evaluation process, during the preparation of the EOI the Consultants should clearly indicate for both criteria list of projects, accompanied by certificates of orderly fulfilment of the contracts verified by other party from such contracts. Hence, first should be indicated the criterion, and below the criterion it should be indicated the list of conducted contracts. Below the list, the consultant should indicate the certificates/proofs for fulfilment of those contracts. If it is not clearly stated for which contract the certificate is issued, the Consultant should write the number and title of the contract on the certificate/proof. The Qualifications and Experience of Key Experts are not included in the shortlisting criteria. Key Experts will not be evaluated at this stage. Consultants are required to confirm the availability of qualified key experts according to the positions and respective qualifications for each, as listed in the TOR. The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to Section III, paragraphs, 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” dated July 2016, revised November 2017, July 2018, November 2020, September 2023 and February 2025 (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest. Consultants may associate with other firms to enhance their qualifications but should indicate clearly whether the association is in the form of a joint venture and/or a sub-consultancy. In the case of a joint venture, all the partners in the joint venture shall be jointly and severally liable for the entire contract, if selected. A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Consultant’s qualifications-based selection (CQS) method set out in the Procurement Regulations, throughout Open International Competitive Procurement. The eligible consulting firms (“Consultants”) can obtain further information from the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) at the Ministry of Transport, Attn: Ms. Vlasta Ruzinovska, Ms. Natasha Stojanovska, and/or Mr. Slavko Micevski, e-mail: vlasta.ruzinovska@piu.mtc.gov.mk; natasha.stojanovska@piu.mtc.gov.mk; and slavko.micevski@piu.mtc.gov.mk; during office hours from 09:30 to 15:30. The eligible consulting firms (“Consultants”) must submit their Expression of Interest only by e-mail to all the below-listed e-mail addresses (as readable PDF files in the English language), latest on May 20, 2025, 15:30 p.m. Receipt of each Expression of Interest will be immediately confirmed. Ministry for Transport Project Implementation Unit Attn: Ms. Vlasta Ruzinovska, Ms. Natasha Stojanovska and/or Mr. Slavko Micevski – procurement Specialists Street “Crvena Skopska Opstina”, Nr. 4, 1000 Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia Tel: + 389 (0)2 3145 531; Web site addresses: http://mtc.gov.mk/javniOglasi; https://www.e-nabavki.gov.mk. E-mail addresses (obligatory): vlasta.ruzinovska@piu.mtc.gov.mk natasha.stojanovska@piu.mtc.gov.mk slavko.micevski@piu.mtc.gov.mk maja.lazarevska@piu.mtc.gov.mk procurement.piu.mtc@gmail.com Agency: Ministry of Transport and Communications Procurement method: Consultant Qualification Selection Notice type: Request for Expression of Interest Status: Published Value: 333300.0 USD